Subcritical crack growth and other time- and environment-dependent behavior in crustal rocks

Journal Article · Sun Jun 10 04:00:00 EDT 1984 · J. Geophys. Res.; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1029/JB089iB06p04137· OSTI ID:6369453

Swanson, P L

Stable crack growth strongly influences both the fracture strength of brittle rocks and some of the phenomena precursory to catastrophic failure. Quantification of the time and environment dependence of fracture propagation is attempted with the use of a fracture mechanics technique. A picture of subcritical fracture propagation is developed that embraces the essential ingredients of the microstructure, a microcrack process zone, and the different roles that the environment plays. To do this, the results are examined of (1) fracture mechanics experiments on 5 rock types, (2) optical and scanning electron microscopy, (3) studies of microstructural aspects of fracture in ceramics, and (4) exploratory tests examining the time-dependent response of rock to the application of water. 50 references.

• OSTI ID: 6369453
• Journal Information: J. Geophys. Res.; (United States), Journal Name: J. Geophys. Res.; (United States) Vol. 89:B6; ISSN JGREA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
020300 -- Petroleum-- Drilling & Production
58 GEOSCIENCES
580300* -- Mineralogy
Petrology
& Rock Mechanics-- (-1989)
BENCH-SCALE EXPERIMENTS
CERAMICS
COMMINUTION
CRACK PROPAGATION
CRYSTAL STRUCTURE
ELECTRON MICROSCOPY
FRACTURE MECHANICS
FRACTURING
HYDRAULIC FRACTURING
MECHANICS
MICROSCOPY
MICROSTRUCTURE
OPTICAL MICROSCOPY
RESERVOIR ROCK
SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY
TIME DEPENDENCE